Within the paradisiac courtyard established on the Worldly Equilibrium Moon of the Endless Prosperity Domain, Wei Wuyin and Xiao Bing spent time by the pondside. They sat together, the latter leaning against the former's shoulder, and engaged in relaxed conversation. The scene was as idyllic as one could imagine.
Mostly, it was Xiao Bing asking questions and Wei Wuyin answering, typically detailing a few of his adventures over the last two decades with an added flair of extravagance and excitement. While he embellished a little here and there, from Xiao Bing's smile filled with content, excitement, and concern, it was clear that his manner of padding hype to stories was top-class.
"Haha, really?" Xiao Bing laughed with a hand to her stomach, displaying a sight completely unlike her normally icy disposition others were familiar with. Wei Wuyin nodded with a profoundly dignified expression emulating Xun Yicao, "Yes! I kid you not, he said: JUNIOR, DO YOU DARE!" The rage he mimicked was rather on point and sent Xiao Bing into a spiraling bout of laughter.
"I-I can't!" She clutched at Wei Wuyin's arm and leaned further in. She exuded a fragrance that resembled lilacs. It was gentle and soothing, and Wei Wuyin wondered if she had mindfully put on perfume expecting him to arrive.
Wei Wuyin joined in with a laugh. While Xun Yicao had never said that exactly, in Wei Wuyin's mind, was there a difference? In a way, Wei Wuyin was just paraphrasing events and emotions.
"You've been through quite a lot," Xiao Bing said after finally managing to stop herself from laughing.
"Perhaps," Wei Wuyin hadn't told her everything, only about twenty percent, yet when he finally laid out his journey thus far, even if it was minimized to non-secret events, he realized the number of things he'd experienced in such a short amount of time was not only thrilling but heavy. If he added the Calamities of Hell, the Battlefield, and his encounters with Daos and embodiments of Laws, who knows how anyone would feel?
"You have," Xiao Bing stated softly yet strongly, placing her chilly hands into Wei Wuyin's, the latter exuded a type of warmth that caused unimaginable comfort, balancing out her natural low-body temperature, and allowing her to experience something akin to an embrace.
"You assisted two cultivators to become Earthly Saints, nurtured Bai Lin to become as strong as an Earthly Saint, helped Pavilion Master Ma take his position back, installed a new ruler into the Great Blue Starfield, initiated the next upcoming era with your creations, basically established the standards for geniuses, thwarted Trueborn's plans at every step and later forced them to their knees, and skillfully avoided the schemes of the entire world's peak forces again and again. All in two decades. If you haven't done a lot, who has?" Xiao Bing gazed at Wei Wuyin's side profile.
"I've talked quite a lot, huh?" Wei Wuyin finally realized that he had told her a lot of things. While they didn't seem all too important to say, hearing it so concisely explained allowed him to finally grasp the monumental actions he'd performed since arriving at the Grand Cyclic Stellar Region. From the beginning of arriving, no, even before arriving, his sights had always been at the level of the Realm of Sages and Calamities of Hell. His mind was focused on only one thing.
Everything he'd done was all a means to that end—survival.
He never had time like this…where he could simply look back and revel in his achievements without comparison or worry. Was this what it meant to be relaxed? The only other time he'd felt like this was with…
"I guess great men would often forget that they're only mortal, huh?" Xiao Bing softly whispered.
"Huh?" Wei Wuyin's enlightened daze ended.
"Nothing," she smiled. Then, before Wei Wuyin could respond, she said: "I'm sorry." The grip she used to hold Wei Wuyin's arm tightened, and her tone was riddled with guilt.
"Sorry for what?" If anyone should be sorry, Wei Wuyin felt that he was the one. After all, he had neglected Xiao Bing for so long because of his own biases.
"I…I'm sure there's a lot more you're not telling me. Probably all the dangerous encounters you've had, the truly dangerous ones. And for so long, I…I felt a little resentful that you never came. I'm sorry for being selfish." Xiao Bing was on the verge of tears, her lips quivering, and her grip impressing her full strength on Wei Wuyin's arms.
Before Wei Wuyin could say something to console her, she added with a faint wailing: "I felt resentful for what? For just a few years? As cultivators…we…you've been doing so much in so little…I feel so stupid." At this point, her ice tears had begun to fall, and the pent-up grievances she had had turned into a strong sense of self-resenting guilt.
"If you hadn't, sniff, if you hadn't done everything you did, would we be, sniff, able to enjoy this moment? This little paradise?"
"..." Wei Wuyin heavily sighed in his heart. He understood what she meant, and why she felt what she felt. After entering the Grand Cyclic Stellar Region, and receiving the training and education of one of the Eight Noble Clans, her horizons and understanding of the world were certainly heightened. The feats Wei Wuyin had just told her were heaven-defying, hell-resisting achievements for a mere mortal despite his exciting way of telling the story. Yet Wei Wuyin had accomplished them all, and while he struggled to cultivate to attain the power to perform those feats, her resentment for Wei Wuyin had grown because of her little treatment.
What she suffered wasn't remotely comparable to what Wei Wuyin had gone through, what he had to face on a daily, and how perilous every single second was. Just being here, in the Aeternal Sky Starfield's territory, was a dangerous act in and of itself. Why else wear a mask?
"Don't downplay your tragedy, Xiao Bing. You suffered, and that was…"
"DON'T!" Xiao Bing shouted forcefully. She looked at Wei Wuyin, her eyes still glistening with tears, and she said with a quivering voice: "Don't. Please don't say it's your fault. I'm not a naive little girl that…that will be fooled by the comforting words of her man so easily. Don't treat me like one."
"..."
The two sat in silence for a long moment.
Only after Xiao Bing finally gathered her bearings, wiping off her tears, regaining a light of strength in her eyes, did she say: "If I never met you, where do you think I would be right now?"
"..." That wasn't a question that Wei Wuyin could answer. Better off? Worse off? He was unsure. But he did know that if she hadn't joined the Valkyries, she would've been married off by now. While Wei Wuyin had surmised that the Bing Clan's marriage engagement was a ploy to lure him out, he now knew that the driving force was her unique physique. While they might have had slight hopes to bring him out of hiding, Bing Tian's main objective was for a family member to benefit.
"I'd have been forcefully married off, abused and discarded, or buried, so don't say it's your fault—it's not." When she thought about Hong Ru's death in the Grand Spirit Trials, Xiao Bing recalled her desire to join her in the afterlife after getting vengeance. However, Long Chen had told her there was a chance for Hong Ru to come back to life, and Wei Wuyin had pulled her from the depths of despair, bringing Hong Ru back to life!
While she didn't have any feelings for Wei Wuyin at the time, she knew that the seed was planted then.
And now, that seed had grown, and her feelings were undeniable. In truth, she never understood why Hong Ru liked Long Chen, and she only accompanied Hong Ru because of their rivalry, and her secret affection for her. They eventually became friends thanks to Long Chen's struggles with the other Myriad Monarch Sect's clans, and she felt extremely happy then.
Not because of Long Chen, but because Hong Ru no longer treated her like a rival meant to be surpassed, but an ally. She had even set her determination to join Hong Ru in Long Chen's seemingly endlessly growing harem if she wanted. She had taken that path with Wei Wuyin, but her reality was far from her expectations. She finally knew why Hong Ru had taken a liking to Long Chen, and when she looked at Wei Wuyin, she firmly believed that what she felt was dozens of times more than what Hong Ru felt.
After all, she no longer wanted to be with anyone else or had thoughts of leaving him. She feared the possibility.
"Alright, I won't." Wei Wuyin didn't console her and directly admitted that her circumstance was not his fault. After thinking about it, he knew that her kidnapping from the Bing Clan might have been Long Chen's Karma still affecting her. After all, the Heavenly Daos likely planned her meeting with Bing Tian and then an eventual rescue that'll strengthen their feelings for one another. Considering how stonehearted and uninterested Xiao Bing seemed to be in men, this aligned with the Heavenly Daos' M.O. for Long Chen.
"Good!" Xiao Bing visibly relaxed, relieved, and content with Wei Wuyin's acceptance. She had long come to terms with her worth in this vast world of cultivation, and the desire others had for her to become a Yin Cauldron for their benefit. But Wei Wuyin, even now, hadn't shown any interest or care for her physique.
In her mind, Wei Wuyin likely needed immediate power and cultivation resources more than anyone, yet he hadn't plucked her from the Bing Clan's hands after they began to treat her better, and used her for himself, especially considering she already agreed to be his woman, not his wife or concubine of any sort.
The two kept talking for a while longer, and the atmosphere lifted as laughter and words flew. Before they knew it, two whole hours had passed and they now lay flat on the ground, staring at the endless stars above.
Wei Wuyin was instantly reminded of his Solar Star project that was placed on pause. Each second was a heavy cost paid.
"You have to go?" Xiao Bing quietly said, her words sounded saddening, yet there was a tinge of acceptance in them. She knew that Wei Wuyin was a great figure, and great figures were busy. She refused to be a hindrance to further greatness.
Wei Wuyin's focus was brought back and he faced this exceptionally beautiful woman lying on his chest. How many men would be indescribably happy to experience such genuine feelings from a woman of such standard?
"Yeah."
"...I understand." Xiao Bing got to spend two hours of undivided attention and peace in paradise with the man she accepted in her heart, and it vastly exceeded what her imagination had conjured for years. There was no lust or ambitious desire, no hidden agenda, there were simply pure feelings of comfort and togetherness. For two hours, she felt that they were the only two in this entire world. Even she didn't know why her imagination felt like utter trash when comparing the real thing.
"Let's go." Wei Wuyin gently rose.
"What?" Xiao Bing was taken aback.
"I won't make the same mistake again. Let's go get Hong Ru."
Xiao Bing's eyes widened.